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Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Movie Review: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1

For decades,
Gotham city was under the vigilant protection of the dynamic duo known as Batman
& Robin.Following the death of Jason
Todd, the second Robin, Bruce Wayne went into retirement.Flash forward Ten years later, and Gotham is
on the edge of oblivion.A violent youth
gang known as the mutants has the city in the grip of panic.Things are steadily growing worse, as law
enforcement seems powerless in the face of this rapidly emerging threat.Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne grows antsy.Heeding the relentless call of his darker
half, he dons the cape and cowl once more.Alas, many Gothamites don’t see his return as cause for
celebration.Never the less, Batman
continues his crusade undeterred.

Next to Alan
Moore’s Watchmen, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is
easily the most influential superhero story of the past 30 years.That pedigree makes it rather intimidating for
anyone looking to launch an adaptation of any sort.Luckily, the creative forces behind the DC
Universe Animated Original Movies line are up for just such a challenge.Batman
The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 is the first half of a two-part animated
feature that aims to bring Frank Miller’s groundbreaking four-issue limited
series successfully to life.Of course,
there isn’t any room for failure, as the text is considered hallowed
ground.Bearing that in mind, the
filmmakers tread carefully but confidently.

Aside from its
fascist politics, the most striking thing about Batman:The Dark Knight
Returns was the artwork. By 1986, Frank
Miller was at the top of his game.His rough-edged visual style began to reflect
the hard boiled sensibilities of his storytelling.His pencils felt somewhat unrefined, but they
were abrasive and kinetic. For the most part, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Volume 1 retains those qualities.Iconic panels and pages from the graphic
novel form the foundation of the film’s production/ character design.

The film’s
staunch fidelity to the source material is evidenced by its depiction of Batman
himself.Miller envisioned a middle aged
version of the character that was a grizzled war hero.The film stays true to that vision.Like Miller’s drawings, Batman is suitably
Cro-Magnon, while somehow retaining a dignified quality.His shoulders are broad, and his posture
often hunched over.His chin looks like
a horizontally laid doggy bone, and his physique is so bulky that it’s a bit
hard to imagine him scaling buildings and rooftops.He’s the forgotten relic of a bygone age,
just like Miller intended him to be.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns carried
many cultural hallmarks of the Reagan-Bush years.The animated version also bears many of those
same characteristics.For example, one
scene shows the mutants dancing to electro/ Latin freestyle music emanating
from a boom box.In keeping with this theme,
composer Christopher Drake crafts a musical score which harkens back to the
synthetic sounds of the 1980’s.It recalls
the work of Vince DiCola, Tangerine Dream, and Brad Fiedel.This makes for a perfect marriage with the
visuals, which often fetishize machinery and technology.Military weaponry is also fetishized, as
certain thugs are shown carrying M60 machine guns.While I imagine such heavy artillery would be
very impractical for street crime, it’s in perfect keeping with both the text
and the sensibilities of 80’s action flicks.

Much has been
made of the similarities between Batman:
The Dark Knight Returns and Robocop.The former predates the latter, and is
believed to be an unacknowledged influence.This is mostly due to Robocop’s
extensive use of “media breaks,” or faux television news segments.The animated version has retained that device,
handily using it as a form of Greek chorus.Initially, it has the disorienting feeling of channel surfing.

Characterizations
in animated films often rest on the quality of voice acting.With all due respect to Kevin Conroy, Peter
Weller simply owns this iteration of Batman.Given his status as the man inside the Robocop suit, some may find his
casting a bit too on the nose.Still,
his performance never devolves into self-parody.As with the adaptation of Batman: Year One, there is no voice over
narration to reveal Batman’s thoughts.While,
that is a deviation from the graphic novel, the filmmakers do a good job of
conveying such things visually.

All the major
events from the graphic novel have been turned into set pieces worthy of a
blockbuster.Batman’s rooftop takedown
of Harvey Dent’s crew puts similar such sequences in Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy to shame.The animator’s also manage to supplement all
the right moments.Batman’s junkyard
faceoff with the mutant leader feels much longer and more brutal than it did on
the page.The fight choreography is
incredibly vivid and precise.Also
notable is Batman’s aforementioned first night back in the saddle, which plays
simultaneously like Robocop’s first night out on patrol and Superman’s first
night out as a superhero.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1
is every bit what fans have come to expect from DC Universe Animated Original
Movies line.It’s big and reverent, yet
it exhibits a casual swagger.It doesn’t
agonize over the course it sets for itself.It simply makes its way up the mountain.As renowned as this text is, adapting it needn’t be an arduous
chore.For all of its darkness and
fascist overtones, the graphic novel was one Hell of an exciting read.That is what so many subsequent Batman
stories have forgotten, and what this animated feature seems to remember quite
well.This was a carefully planned
endeavor.One can only hope that as much
care went into the second half, which I frankly cannot wait to see.

About Me

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Scott Wilson, deep thinker and blogger extraordinaire. I'm also a published author and proud father. Last but certainly not least, I'm a single (IE Available), but I'm definitely looking to change that. My life is an ongoing work in progress, and I'm always looking to improve.